UMass crime log

Hang on for a minute...we're trying to find some more stories you might like.

Email This Story

Send email to this addressEnter Your NameAdd a comment hereVerification

Thursday, March 29

At approximately 8:50 p.m., an officer on a routine traffic stop on University Drive found four minors in possession of alcohol. The vehicle contained a 30-pack of Keystone Light, six 40-ounce bottles of Colt 45, five 1.75-liter bottles of various flavored vodka and a 1.75-liter bottle of Bacardi Cherry Rum. Each of the four occupants were issued summons to court on possible charges of minors in possession of alcohol, and the driver also faces a possible charge of a minor transporting alcohol.

Friday, March 30

At around 12:10 p.m., a man reported a breaking and entering and burglary. The suspect had left his Wheeler dormitory to take a shower in the morning, and when he returned to his room about 20 minutes later, he found his door wide open. He searched his room thoroughly and found that $260 in cash had been stolen. His roommate, who had also been absent from the room, reported that he was missing $50. The roommates claimed that they didn’t owe money to anyone, and did not have any suspects in mind.

At approximately 10:49 p.m., Brandon S. Wong, 19, of Brookline, was arrested on charges of disorderly conduct, assault with a dangerous weapon and domestic violence. Police were called to Thatcher Hall after an altercation occurred between Wong and a woman with whom he had previously been in a relationship. The female had jokingly taken his cell phone and would not give it back to him, but he took the situation seriously, said University of Massachusetts Interim Police Chief Patrick Archbald.
Wong went back to his room, and the woman shortly thereafter went to his room to give back the phone. He opened his door with a knife in his hand and proceeded to threaten the female. According to Archbald, Wong stood about a foot away from her holding the knife near her face and neck, and she was fearful during the incident. The female claimed to have not remembered the specific threat that Wong had made. After he was taken into custody, she filed a restraining order against him.

Saturday, March 31

At approximately 12:34 a.m., Steven M. Dibono, an 18-year-old engineering major from Reading, was arrested on a charge of disorderly conduct. An officer in Lot 32 West was observed Dibono walking in a group, when he suddenly stopped and began kicking the passenger-side mirror of a black Nissan. He called over one of the group members to watch, and the witness reportedly told him to stop. The intoxicated Dibono then kicked the mirror one final time, destroying it. The officer approached him and placed him into custody.

At approximately 1:21 a.m., Joseph Andrew Demartini, a 22-year-old legal studies major from Shrewsbury, was arrested on a charge of disorderly conduct. A plainclothes officer was observing a small group walking through Lot 32 West, when one member broke off from the group and began urinating on the driver’s side of a parked vehicle. The officer approached Demartini, who saw him coming and began to walk away. The officer caught up with him and discovered that he was intoxicated. Demartini denied urinating on the car, but he soon admitted to it and was placed into custody.

At approximately 4:07 a.m., a woman reported a breaking and entering and burglary at North Apartment A. At the time of the incident, she was outside skateboarding when she noticed two women and a man walking by her, holding a pair of boots that belonged to her. She confronted the three of them and they gave her the boots. She then returned to where she had left her boots, and found that her Canon Elph Camera, valued at around $800, was also missing. She saw the three individuals later on and asked them about the camera but said they denied taking it. UMPD is in the process of reviewing video surveillance from the area.

At about 9:24 p.m., Patrick Michael O’Leary, 20, of Methuen, and Derek O’Rourke, 20, of Bedford, were arrested on charges of trespassing. Two plainclothes officers in Lot 33 observed a group of men who appeared to be under the age of 21 gathered around a pick-up truck. One of the individuals was placing beer into a backpack while the others “were looking around, acting as lookouts,” according to Archbald. The police officers identified the men, none of whom were UMass students, and found that two of them had trespassing orders. O’Leary had been issued a trespassing order in the past due to a restraining order that had been filed by a UMass student. O’Rourke had been involved in a previous altercation on campus and was placed into custody along with O’Leary.

Sunday, April 1

At about 1:15 a.m., Brian M. Miller III, 20, of Wrentham, and Michael Sem Desir, 22, of Longmeadow, were arrested on charges of disorderly conduct. An officer on patrol observed the two men fighting on the sidewalk of Fearing Street. Others around them were trying to separate the two, and when the officer approached, he attempted to do the same. According to Archbald, the officer repeatedly told them to “break it up,” but they continued. They were eventually separated and Desir attempted to flee; however, he was stopped by other officers at the scene. Both of them claimed to have not known one another, but they did say that they had been involved in a larger fight earlier in the night. They were arrested and taken to the station.